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Christmas's past

Celebrating Christmas to most means decorating a fresh cut tree, evergreen wreaths, exchanging gifts, family gatherings; with all of the above wrapped around the birth of Christ to remind us of the "reason for the season."

Celebrating Christmas to most means decorating a fresh cut tree, evergreen wreaths, exchanging gifts, family gatherings; with all of the above wrapped around the birth of Christ to remind us of the "reason for the season."

The traditions of the holiday actually pre-date Christ and, contrary to popular belief, have origins in ancient pagan celebrations that honored the time of the Winter Solstice.

The Feast of Juul was a pre-Christian festival observed in Scandinavia during the December solstice. Fires were lit to symbolize the heat, light and life-giving properties of the returning sun. A Yule or Juul log was brought in and burned on the hearth in honor of the Scandinavian god Thor.

The celebration of Saturnalia, in honor of the god Saturn (satus means sowing), began as a farmer’s festival that marked the end of the autumn planting season. Saturnalia moved to later dates in the Roman period. It later became a seven-day event that climaxed Dec. 25, around the time of the date of the solstice.

It is thought the Roman Emperor Constantine incorporated the birth of Christ to 'christianize" the traditional pagan celebrations. However, the Bible itself debunks the long held belief Christ was born in the month of December. Luke 2:8 states when Christ was born, “there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.” Both Ezra 10:9-13 and the Song of Solomon 2:11 state winter was the rainy season and shepherds could not stay on cold, open fields at night.

The real history of Santa Claus begins with Saint Nicholas. He was born to wealthy parents in the village of Patara in Turkey. He use his

(Photo: Public domain)

The symbolism of an evergreen tree also pre-date Christianity. The evergreen trees has origins that can be traced to the worship of the Sun God Mithras around 600 BC.The Christmas tree was not connected with Christmas until 1605 when it is suggested German reformer Martin Luther popularized the use of the Christmas tree. Luther is said to have cut an evergreen and put lighted candles on it to represent the starry sky that shined the night Jesus was born. The trees were then decorated with candies, fruits, and paper roses were a part of the holiday decorations in German homes.

For centuries, wreaths have been symbols of victory and honor, representing the unending cycle of life. Ancient Druids, Celts, and Romans used evergreen branches made into wreaths in winter solstice celebrations. Holly was offered to the fairy people of the forests as refuge from the harsh winter weather. During Saturnalia, the Roman winter festival, branches of holly were exchanged as tokens of friendship and fertility.

The tradition of kissing underneath the mistletoe stems from the idea that it had special powers of healing for those who “reveled” under it. European mistletoe is thought to have had ritual significance in ceremonies.The ancient Celtics used mistletoe as an herbal remedy to make them to barren animals fertile. It is still referred to as “all healer” in Celtic. Its special status as the Christmas mistletoe came from Anglo-Saxon times.

Interested in learning more, read: "Pagan Christmas: The Plants, Spirits, and Rituals at the Origins of Yuletide," by Christian Ratsch and Claudia Muller-Ebeling.